The Porn Industry Is Finally Recognizing Its Female Audience

Written by Bobby Box

Published on February 01, 2018

If you are still of the mindset that women don’t watch porn, you are sorely mistaken, my friend. The number of women watching porn has been consistently on the rise for quite some time now. In fact, Pornhub’s 2017 Year in Review report found “Porn for Women” (a category of videos voted on by female users) was the top trending search for the entire year, growing 360 percent among female users. This search phrase alone saw a 1,400 percent increase among overall users. Welcome, ladies!

“With these insights, it comes as no surprise that we’d want to do an initiative fully centered toward benefiting our female users, and I’m sure this will be the first of many,” Pornhub’s brand manager, Alexandra Klein, tells Playboy. “It’s no longer a taboo topic, and it’s nice to see that females are getting to partake in the fun just as much as their male counterparts—as they should be.”

This new initiative is called “Fuck Your Period,” an educational campaign that champions the benefits of orgasms during the menstrual cycle. To encourage women to masturbate during their period, Pornhub is providing female users with free access to its high-definition, on-demand streaming service, Pornhub Premium, for the duration of their menstrual cycle. To qualify, all they have to do is answer simple questions pertaining to their menstrual cycle in order to calculate the arrival and duration of their next period. Then, when that day arrives, they will receive an email from Pornhub inviting them to enjoy full access to Pornhub Premium for the remainder of their period. This cycle will then repeat for the user over the subsequent three months.

As we’ve recently established, there are multiple benefits to having orgasms during menstruation. According to studies, a menstrual orgasm can decrease uterine pain by releasing dopamine and oxytocin that act as pain relievers. Some also believe orgasms can shorten a period's timespan. “The old ‘putting down a towel’ trick works every time,” Klein offers as a solution for less mess. “In all seriousness though, we encourage women to experiment with some trial and error to see what works and feels best for them during this time of the month.”

Per Pornhub, this is one of many female-centric campaigns to launch this year. “As our female viewership continues to expand, we are constantly looking for new ways to engage with women and create new content with them specifically in mind,” Klein says. “Similar to the ‘F Your Period’ initiative, we will look to continue to create campaigns that showcase the ways women can benefit from watching porn, whether it’s in terms of creating confidence in the bedroom or in their daily lives.”

Similarily, Pornhub competitor xHamster's year-end report saw a 2.4 percent increase in female viewership globally. Overall, women represent a quarter of total users. The top search term among American women on the site in 2017 was "daddy," whereas globally, that term was opposite, with "mom." Pornhub's top terms among women were “lesbian,” “threesome” and “big dick.” And the content women preferred over men were decidedly female-centric, with “pussy-licking,” “popular with women” and “lesbian.”

By now we know women are definitely watching porn, but just how much are they watching? According to a survey of 3,000 women from Marie Claire, just as much as we do. As we’ve covered, 31 percent of women watch porn weekly and 30 percent watch a few times a month. A surprising 10 percent watch porn every day. The reason for watching? Women view porn as an express lane to orgasm. Even better, 40 percent use it as inspiration for their sex lives.

Obviously, big (and necessary) changes are happening. Not only are women finally being recognized, women are being catered to and looked at as a separate demographic entirely. “I am already seeing a trend that is helping to encourage more women to watch porn,” Sunny Rodgers, clinical sexologist tells Playboy. “Companies are hiring more female writers and directors, which, of course, means there are more scripts available written from a woman’s point of view.”

For women looking for female-centric porn, Rodgers recommends the works of Jacky St. James. “Jacky writes scripts that titillate and entice women,” Rodgers begins. “Her films are great stories that happen to include sex. Recently, she wrote and directed a steamy series for Showtime entitled, ‘SUBMISSION.’ This in itself is proof that erotic movies are becoming more mainstream.”

Rodgers believes adult film is beginning to take into account what today’s women want to see and this naturally attracts new female audiences. “I personally know a lot of women who feel guilty watching porn," she begins. "Many women don’t admit they watch porn because they feel their partners would be angry or they were raised to believe that watching adult films is unacceptable. But because women are becoming more empowered, they feel like they can finally admit to personal concepts, and this includes viewing porn." Not to mention, porn is more accessible than ever. And this convenience makes the prospect even more popular.

However, Rodgers believes we as a society need to change before any real difference can be made. "I think society as a whole needs to be more accepting of porn and erotic movies," she starts. "Our society is too quick to judge people. We like people who are like ourselves. But if everyone liked the same things, what a boring world we would live in. I think we need to encourage women to follow their own happiness, without worrying about what other people think. If watching porn makes them happy—then do it!"

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